UTOTD #4

Bonus edition! Thanks to Kelsie’s suggestions, I will be tackling the origins of two idioms today: “Par for the course” and “Get a word in edgewise.”

Par for the course

My research on Wikipedia came up empty on this one…not so much as a meaning, let alone the origin. So, onto handy dandy Google I go, where I found the very useful GoEnglish.com. No specific origin here, but a very handy definition:

""Par for the course" is what is normal and acceptable for a particular situation. Example: "I get sick every time I travel." Answer: "That's just par for the course." "Par" on a golf "course" is the average number of strokes a golfer needs to get the ball in all the holes; "par for the course" is what is usual and expected. Example: "Things don't always work out as we want in life, and that's just par for the course; we do our best and go on." We should not get too bothered when things happen that are par for the course, because they are regular parts of life."

By reading the definition, I can only surmise that the origin of this phrase goes hand in hand with the origin of the scoring system for golf, which is so complicated I won’t even get into it right now. Suffice to say, the rules of golf were first put into writing by the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in 1744 for the Annual Challenge for the Edinburgh Silver Club. (about.com, “History of Golf FAQ”). Oh, and there were 13 of them.

Countless google searches yielded nothing to offer by way of the origin of the phrase. And one very promising link (The Phrase Finder) ended up being out of date or broken. I got the dreaded “file not found” error. Oh well.

On to the next challenge:

Get a word in edgewise

Usually this phrase is used in the negative, as is, “can’t get a word in edgewise.” I found a very useful site, “Origin of Phrases,” that yielded this result:
"Meaning: Unable to break into a conversation, no pause in a discussion. Example: Don't you guys ever shut up? I can't get a word in edgewise. Origin: If you can imagine a string of continuous printed text, and a single word attempting to wedge its way into that text. The easiest way to find space for that word would be to turn that word on its edge, to make it very thin, as in the profile of a printed word. If you can't get the word in edgewise, then there must be no break or room in the text or conversation."

Now, how reliable that is, is beyond me, as I noticed it is an AOL members website. I’m not knocking the guy/gal that put this together, or the contributors, just questioning the validity of the statements. So, I went back to GoEnglish.com to see what they had to say. Oh, I see…NOTHING. Well, phooey on them!

Ok, phooey on everyone. It seems “can’t get a word in edgewise” isn’t a popular enough idiom or phrase to have its origin or meaning on any webpage that I’ve visited. So thanks to the AOL members and contributors of “Origins of Phrases” for being the only source I can find on this elusive phrase!